Do you have a dishwasher in your kitchen? There are two camps of people. Those who wash their dishes manually in a sink for hours on end every day, swearing by their wrinkled hands to never buy this appliance… and those who bought a house that came with it.
Jokes aside, dishwashers nowadays have become really common and they are definitely very useful but the stigma around them not doing their job properly continues to stick around. Some people argue they prefer to do it themselves rather than “wasting water and detergent” again just to take the dishes out to see that grandma’s meatball grease did not in fact come off the plate.
Even though these dishwashers are made specifically with one purpose in mind, many people wrongly assume that they are not good or there must be something wrong with them where in reality people often stay wilfully ignorant about how dishwashers actually work and how to properly use and maintain them.
We will go through it all with you. If you still have not read the manual, stick around and we will turn this greasy topic into a shiny quest for cleanliness for you to embark on so you do not have to scrub and sponge ever again.
HOW DISHWASHERS WORK
a Journey Through the Cycle
Water Intake:
The dishwasher is like a bathtub that fills itself. It begins its cycle by drawing water from your household plumbing system. This is a controlled process that involves a solenoid valve, a special faucet that only the dishwasher can turn on and off. Pressing “Start” is like turning that faucet on. Water flows through a hose into your bathtub-like dishwasher, measuring tools check if there is enough of it based on the type of wash you told it to use and with the proper amount of water drawn, it stops flowing in.
That water is either hot or cold. If your dishwasher is connected to the hot water supply, the water entering will already be heated. This saves energy for dishwashers that do not have an internal water heater.
For cold water connections, your machine relies entirely on its internal heating element to bring the water to the required temperature. Advanced dishwashers may include monitoring sensors and adjust water temperature to save energy or improve cleaning efficiency.
Water Spraying:
Now that your dishwasher is filled with water, spray arms located at the top, middle, and/or bottom of the appliance can, via rotation, distribute the water using high pressure to reach every bit inside of your dishwasher. That pressurized water will eventually mix with the detergent of your choice and remove food scraps and oily residue from the dishes. Newer dishwasher models may come with spray arms that rotate both ways, with jets that have variable pressure or with dedicated zones for spraying specific items, like fragile glassware.
Washing:
The washing phase is where water mixes with detergent you bought to create a powerful cleaning solution. Dishwasher detergents contain enzymes and surfactants that break down grease, starch, and protein residues. If you go through and read the labels on these very specific cleaning products, you will come to a point where you audibly exclaim “aha!” to yourself while standing in ASDA’s cleaning aisle. That is because they will most likely mention the fact that enzymes need hot water to be effective. Enzymes target specific food particles, such as carbohydrates and proteins, while surfactants lift grease and dirt off the dishes and hold them in suspension to prevent them sticking to your dishes again.
Setting detergents aside for a minute - if you find dishwashers effective, have you ever considered why they are so good at cleaning? The simple answer is - contained heat. Go to your sink and try to use cold water to clean that dried up leftover cat food that your babies ignored to finish because it formed a circle at the edges of the bowl essentially becoming invisible to them. The hotter the water - the easier for you it is to clean that dish with a single wipe. At the same time, slowly raising the water temperature by a few degrees every minute or so makes heating very energy-intensive so you may want to help get that temperature up faster. Depending on your location, you may want to run the tap before starting your dishwasher, to get the water to proper temperature quicker. UK dishwashers are typically designed to connect to a cold water feed. This means they most likely have a heating element inside them and running the tap is not needed. US dishwashers generally connect to a hot water feed from the household water heater and apparently it is often recommended to run the tap, especially if you know the hot water takes time to reach the appliance.
With all that in mind, dishwashers offer a variety of wash programs tailored to your different cleaning needs. For instance:
Eco Program: Saves water and energy by using lower temperatures and longer cycles, best for lightly soiled dishes.
Intensive Program: Uses higher temperatures and stronger water jets for heavily soiled cookware and baking dishes.
Delicate Program: Works at lower water pressure and temperatures to protect fragile items like glassware and some fine china.
Rinsing:
After washing, your dishwasher needs to be able to remove the detergent that it cleaned your dishes with as well as any remaining bits and pieces of food. That makes rinsing a critical part of the process if you aim for spotless tableware. Many dishwashers go through multiple rinse cycles and use fresh water introduced in each of them. Detergent residue can leave streaks or film on your glasses and plates so to improve the rinsing and help the drying process, you can add rinse aid solution to minimize the streaks and water spots.
Drying:
The very last step in the dishwasher cycle is to dry your cookware. Based on your machine’s settings, model and design it can dry your spotless dishes in three ways:
with Residual Heat Drying: this method uses the heat stored in the dishes. That is then combined with proper airflow so that the items dry naturally. This is of course based on the type of your dishes and the material they were made from. You cannot really expect plastic cups to retain heat the same way that your ceramic bowls do. They were born in the fire after all.
by Drying Actively: this way uses fans and/or additional heating elements installed in your device to distribute hot air inside the dishwasher, which results in quicker and more effective drying. This method probably consumes the most of your precious energy but if you decide to pay more for a premium dishwasher upfront, you may be able to customize the effectiveness of the drying process and use even more energy to save what is probably a smidgen of your time. That same time you are already saving by owning a dishwasher. But wait, there is more! With the help of several proverbial fivers you can splurge on a really high-end model and dry your dishes with zeolite minerals that absorb moisture.
by using Evaporation Drying: This method may take longer and it probably is not 100% water droplets-proof but since it uses the residual heat from the rinsing cycle that it just went through, to get rid of water, it is probably more energy-efficient than Active Drying. Some heat is probably still stored in the dishes themselves too, so this method sounds like the most efficient way to go.
HOW TO LOAD THE DISHWASHER
Truths and Myths
No need to pre-rinse the dishes
But we definitely recommend removing any leftovers. You know, all that food you carefully portioned but it turned out to be too much again? Why clog your dishwasher’s filter and then complain how poor of a job you machine does when you can swiftly bin the scraps and continue loading the dishwasher. If you do these steps consistently every time, your appliance will take care of your plates the way it was designed to do. Otherwise you do not save time, nor water if you also have to pre-rinse. And at that point - why bother with a dishwasher at all?
Face dishes toward the center and angle them downward
Dishwashers come in a few regulated sizes: standard, compact, oversized and portable - that means that they may slightly vary with what they look like inside. However, in most cases, the most efficient way to load your dirty dishes is to face them downwards, at an angle and towards the center. If the door was transparent and you could see inside the dishwasher, it would all become clear (haha)! The rotating arm that sprays water using washer jets, does it upwards to wash your bowls and rinse your plates. Angling them all helps with rinsing and drying.
That part makes sense, right? It is pretty self-explanatory. What is not so obvious however and where the real debate starts is - which way should you load your cutlery? Do your forks go tines up and handle down? Or maybe upside down?
Turns out that, unlike the orientation of your dishes, the orientation of your utensils inside the basket does not actually matter. What does matter is that you do not stack your forks and your spoons together. Which, again, makes a lot of sense - there is a reason why there are spaces between your plates and bowls in the top and bottom rack. If your utensils snuggle up in the basket, it is highly likely you will not get rid of that mozzarella cheese that got in the slots of your fork because you decided to twirl your spaghetti.
What is the best way then? Mix and don’t match your cutlery! This is that one chance you get to load your dishwasher “whatever way” you want! Put some spoons upwards and next to forks, some forks downwards and next to knives and teaspoons. Randomize and you will be fine.
Pots, pans and mixing bowls are best placed in the back of the bottom rack to not get in the way of everything else. For a full load, fill gaps with small plates.
Do not overload the racks
Just like too many clothes, towels and blankets jammed together in your washing machine can exhaust your drum to a point where it just stops rinsing, draining and spinning all together, overcrowding your dishwasher with two weeks worth of Christmas dinner plates and New Years’ Eve glasses will eventually lead to spray arms getting stuck mid-spin if you place your dishes all willy-nilly, just to quickly get back to the table.
Place bigger, inconveniently-shaped items in the bottom rack, properly spacing them out between the tines - those little fork-like spikes that allow you to separate dishes from each other so they do not snuggle up, like we mentioned earlier in the article. You want the water jets to get to every nook and cranny for an optimal cleaning cycle.
Do not pile up your dishes over the tines. Placing them between the protrusions will also make sure they do not shake, knock into each other or worse - somehow topple over during the wash.
Do not block the sprayer arms
Depending on your model, your dishwasher may come with one or two spray arms - most likely positioned above the top rack and at the bottom of, well, the bottom rack. The sprayer arms contain the water jets that wash, clean and rinse your dishware, so blocking them with a spatula that does not fit in the cutlery basket, tall wine glass or a cutting board can affect the washing performance of the items you loaded your machine with.
Do NOT load these items
Make sure that what you are loading into your machine is dishwasher-safe, remember what cannot go in and what is typically hand-washed:
If you are the chef in your household, your knives, especially any professional kitchen ones with handmade handles and pristine blades can become dull and degraded if you clean them in the dishwasher.
You probably paid a nice sum for those knives. Wash them by hand in warm, soapy water.
Wooden utensils and chopping blocks can crack and warp. Not to mention mould over time.
Silverware from your grand, grand, grandmother can tarnish.
Clean it with soft cloth and mild detergent.
Your fine china can chip and patterns can fade away.
Some china will sometimes be labeled as dishwasher-safe. You can use the delicate setting if your dishwasher comes packed with it.
If you dishwash glassware and crystal items, the hot temperature inside the machine, combined with the detergent will probably cause etching and clouding which will effectively turn your glassware into “forever-dirty” items even if you just washed them.
Additionally, if your machine is unstable, vibrations may break your most fragile items. Hand wash carefully using a soft cloth.
Even before you decide to put your cast iron pan inside your dishwasher, you may realize it is probably too heavy for those flimsy-looking plastic tines on your rack. Dishwashing can strip the seasoning and cause rusting of your pan.
Use warm water and a sponge or a cloth and salt for scrubbing. Dry thoroughly afterwards.
If you prefer nonstick cookware over cast iron pans, remember that the dishwasher can damage those as well. The nonstick coating will peel and degrade over time.
Mild soap and a soft sponge will definitely work well enough to clean it.
HOW TO MAINTAIN THE DISHWASHER
Tips and Tricks
You want to use it regularly
It saves you time, it can save you water even when your loads are small and it keeps the motors inside the dishwasher in proper working condition.
You want to clean the filter regularly
Food scraps will inevitably end up trapped in your dishwasher’s filter. Remove it, dispose of any leftover food, rinse the filter and become consistent in doing it. Some models of dishwashers come with macerators to grind up big chunks of food, but seem to generally be shunned by the public, compared to regular filters that rarely even fill up with gunk.
You want to clean the door, seals and the spray arm
This is to prevent any potential colonies of germs and mould. With a damp towel, wipe down:
the rubber seals around the door that prevent water from leaking while in use,
the door to prevent grime build up
the spray arm
Additionally, every few months remove the spray arm and unclog any blocked spray nozzles. These are very tiny in diameter to provide adequate water pressure to clean your dishes, but you should be able to fit a toothpick there to clean them.
To close this topic off, remember: your dishwasher can do 99% of the work. To avoid dirty dishes after the wash, load your dishwasher correctly. If your dishes are not spotless - you may want to check if you provide proper temperature to your self-filling automatic bathtub. Remember - detergent is needed, but if you find residue on your dishes - you probably use too much of it. Learn what you can and cannot wash. Use the machine regularly and maybe even use a tablespoon of citric acid to your empty maintenance cycle every once in a while to keep the machine clean and mould-free. We really hope you learned something new about this magical box of cleaning wonders!
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